Pearls are also one of the most popular gemstones ever. Before cultured pearls were developed in 1916, natural pearls were often worth much more than diamonds. Ironically, just decades before cultured pearls became common and pearl prices plummeted, a wealthy New Yorker sold his Fifth Avenue mansion to jeweler Cartier for a double-strand pearl necklace. The necklace was worth $1 million at the time. The mansion is now a Cartier showroom.

I have many pearl necklaces including cultured pearls, irregular baroque pearls, and vintage synthetic pearls. They are great for many period dresses.

However, I don’t have a pearl bracelet and would like to have some. I’ve been researching pearl bracelets in 18th century paintings for a while (not portrait bracelets with pearls, though I’ll write about them soon). Some of these are apparently just strings of pearls wrapped around the wrist (which I do in a pinch), but others appear to be specially designed bracelets with no overlap.